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An Outbreak of Gentamicin-Resistant Enterobacter cloacae Infections in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Edwin L. Anderson*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Southwestern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas
J. Patrick Hieber
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Southwestern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas
*
3110 MacCorkle Avenue, S.E., Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University Medical Center, Charleston Division, Charleston, WV 25304

Abstract

The intensive care unit at Children's Medical Center in Dallas is a medical-surgical unit that cares for pediatric patients of all ages. In 1978 an outbreak of infections occurred that was caused by a gentamicin-resistant strain of Enterobacter cloacae. Thirty of the 34 patients involved in the outbreak were neonates. Six patients developed bacteremia, five of them neonates. The neonates who became infected were significantly smaller (> 1500 g) and more premature (< 35 weeks) than control patients. Neonates with bacteremia had a significantly higher incidence of congenital anomalies. In a multi-specialty pediatric intensive care unit newborn infants were the group of patients at high risk for nosocomial infection.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1983

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